Beautiful Becca

Had a young lady come in Saturday. Such a sweetie - trying so hard to be obnoxious (not sure why), but not pulling it off. She asked about things I hear in the closet and I told her honestly that I mostly tune conversation out. I'm not a natural eavesdropper and unusually not curious. I guess because after a while, it's all the same. Ladies talking about their "man," their home life, their kids, their jobs. Nothing novel or new. Told her I had this blog and she was intrigued; said she was going to look it up. I asked her then if she would do something outrageous, I'd post about her, but she couldn't think of anything to do (nor could I, so here you go).

She came in several times - I could tell she was with several friends. While she was so sweet and friendly, she had one friend that didn't have to try hard to be obnoxious. What a piece of work. Very dismissive, very messy, very not-a-person-I'd-like-to-get-to-know. Can't imagine what a sweetheart like Becca is doing with shit like that. This friend is one of those rare ladies that come in that look down their nose at me, as if I were any less than they are - pppppbbbbbbtttttt.

Another young lady came in and was very curious how I had gotten this job. Told her through craigslist. She asked all sorts of questions; said she'd love to have a job like this. I asked her if she was serious, as I was contemplating quitting and she said yes. So I took her name and number down and told her I'd share that with the Bosslady.

Which I did this morning. Yup, I did it. Gave my two-week notice. I need my weekends free to deal with a family situation. Part of me hates having to give it up, but part of me is relieved. It's hard having to work every single weekend. When I spoke with the Bosslady this morning, I told her to keep my number in case she needed someone to fill in on occasion. That I could do. She said she most definitely would and that I could have the job back any time I wanted. Nice to feel appreciated.

If only I could get that at my day job.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year - hoping there's lots of love, laughter, health, wealth and success for everybody.

And I apologize for letting a month go by without posting. Without a lot of detail, my private life is very complicated right now (an illness in the family) - so much so that I am contemplating quitting this gig so that I have weekends free to do what I need to do. The only comfort I find there is that I believe my boss likes me well enough that should I ever decide I want to do this again, she'll have a spot for me.

I was half anticipating and half dreading New Year's Eve. Last year was so crazy-busy and I made very little, since I didn't really know what I was doing yet, so this year, I figured I was going to rake it in.

Ha.

People shouldn't go out if they cannot afford to. I cannot believe how cheap the majority of the ladies were Thursday night. And it was busy, but not bad - not like 2008's New Year's Eve. Made exactly half of what I had expected to make.

And then Friday and Saturday nights were very slow. So glad my Special K got me a new phone for Xmas (I can access the web from it), as I had plenty of time to read the news sites, Facebook, scroll through craigslist - that sort of thing. Made next to nothing Friday, but Saturday, I made only $2 less than Thursday. Weird.

No, not weird. Criminal. That's what it is - downright criminal lol!

This is not a buffet

Was so enamored with the heart Origami, I nearly forgot I wanted to share this one:

Young lady comes in several times throughout the evening last Friday and she likes the Altoids. Second time, she takes one of the paper cups I have out and throws several Altoids in there. She does this like three more times. On the last visit, I had had enough. I walk up to her and say "Excuse me, but this is not a buffet," and I take the cup from her. She's got it half full of mints! She said she was just bringing mints to her friends, and I let her know I'm not here to feed the club mints. These are here for the enjoyment of my customers coming into the restroom and I cannot afford to provide mints for everyone out "there." "Oh, I'm sorry - you pay for these?" Well, yeah, dimwit - how else do you think they get there? I know, I know - folks assume it's the club, but that's getting real old.

Wouldn't have minded so much if she would have dropped me a dollar or two (or three with the amount of mints she took!), but nothing. Not a dime.

Incredible.

A heart in my tip jar

Last Friday night was a strange night; slow with bursts of busyness. And the women - no tips for a long time, and then bursts of everyone shoving a dollar in the jar. Did fairly decent for a slow night. At one point, when I was emptying the jar into my velvet bag, I found this at the bottom:

At first, I thought someone threw a heart-cutout just to be cute, but once I examined the Origami, I discovered it was a two dollar bill. How cool is that? Only bummer is I can't bring myself to unfold and spend the bill. It's just too cute.

Another theft

But this time, it wasn't from me. End of evening, I'm going through each stall as I usually do, and I notice one stall's trash bin was overflowing. I try to stuff it down and it's packed. I look and I notice a purse stuffed in there. A big, leather purse. And I think, wow - someone didn't want their purse anymore. But then as I pull it out, I notice underneath it is the contents; makeup bag, brush, perfume bottle, etc. But no wallet. So I figure, uh, oh - we've had a theft. Just then, security knocked and asked if I was all clear (and I was). I give the purse to him and explain that I think we've had a theft. He said, "Ah, I'll bet this is the missing purse."

It was a nasty evening, anyway. So many young "ladies" cursing up a blue storm. Had to have security come clear the room; had a puker in a stall for over 20 minutes. Just weird. Didn't help that I had been ill this week - caught a nasty-assed cold. So I wasn't feeling so hot anyway. But, dang, it was rough tonight.

So, I'm in the elevator going down to my car and I notice the purse. A fellow is holding it and the hand of an obviously distraught young lady. I said, "oh, that's your purse?" He said, yes - it was snatched from the back of her chair. He asked what I knew and I told him where I found it. I told her I was sorry; she was crying; feeling so bad. She said she was trying to remember what all she had in there. I again said I was sorry that it had happened.

We all get off the same floor of the parking garage and as I'm walking to my car, the fellow calls out "wait a minute." I turn around and before I know it, he's grabbing my black sweater from my bag and asked his gf if this was her sweater. I said "no, that's mine," and make a grab for it. He held it out, showing it to his gf; she said no, it's not mine - give it back. He hands it to me, saying "we're upset."

Yeah, well, buddy, that upset me. I would never steal. Period. From my customers or anyone else. That's just so wrong. I'm so sorry that happened to her/them, but damn - to practically accuse me of stealing her flipping sweater; I found her purse, for God's sake. Why would I have turned her purse in if I was the one doing the stealing?

(sigh) Nasty night. Surprised I made as much as I did. Hope tomorrow brings a nicer crowd.

Thieves

It's happened many times; I turn my back or leave the closet for just a moment (to run a glass to the bar or towels to the kitchen, etc.), and someone snatches something. Most disconcerting to know that there are people out there that do not care enough about their fellow man to reduce themselves to stealing a $1.99 tin of Altoids or a $9 bottle of VS lotion. I know there are bank robbers and desperate druggies, but not from every day, normal women out for an evening.

Friday night, I'm in the middle of setting up - I'm right there, and had just put out a brand new tin of Altoids. I turn around and that tin is gone, my tip sign is in the sink with water running on it and my kitty picture is on the floor. Weekend before, it was my half-empty Victoria Secret Love Spell lotion. WTF?

Why? I just don't get it. And then to be even meaner on top of the theft by trying to ruin my property.

The worse theft was near the beginning of my restroom career; someone helped themselves to my tip jar. And it happened while I was in the room! Just replacing empty roles of TP - came out and of course, I noticed right away that my jar was empty. Can't remember now exactly how much it was (wasn't much - like $10 or $15, but still), but I do remember how upset I was. That I was busting butt so that someone could go and buy themselves a drink or whatever with the fruits of my labor. I hurt so bad over something so hateful - I wanted to quit right then. I now empty my jar many times a night - it goes into a velvet draw-string bag that I keep down below with my kit - takes once to get bitten, I guess, but I learned.

And these women think nothing of helping themselves to things that they think are free. I've stopped many a woman from walking out with a fistful of chocolates or lollies - had one once take a new package of cough drops and stick it in her pocket! Another that went into one of my containers and took out a four-pack of Twisps (the water-less toothbrushes) and put that in her purse. Amazing. And then they're surprised when I call them on it and ask them to put it back. "Oh, I thought it was free," is the common statement I get. I swear if I hear "are these free?" one more time, I'm going to lose it. Do you not see the "Gratuties are appreciated" signs? Get a freakin' clue. And yes, sure, you can take a chocolate or a cough drop or a toothbrush, but not the whole damn thing. They're surprised to learn it's coming from my pocket and not the restaurant's.

These are the women I see at an "all-you-can-eat" buffet with plates piled yea high and putting it in a plastic bag that will go into their purse to take home. Pigs. Selfish pigs.

All about SEX

Saturday night was interesting at the club; slow (surprisingly, most folks go to costume parties as opposed to going out to a nightclub on Halloween), but fun. So many different costumes; so many different personalities.

One observation I had - the majority of the costumes were ultra-short with garters and hose and high heels. Police woman, gladiator, alien, ladybug (bugs were big this year; bees, butterflies, etc.), doctor, cowgirl, etc. - it all looked like lingerie. The two girls that won the costume contest had corsets on with a skirt that had more material in the waistband than the skirt itself - oh, and Mardi Gras-type masks. Nothing I would call highly original or unique to warrant winning a contest... unless you're a male voting with your Johnson. Oh, they were very pretty (twins, they said they were) and nice to look at, but I saw a few other outfits that were way more original and imaginitive, that had the judges been female, would've won instead.